Though we've generally been blessed with great weather throughout this Adventure, today we got dumped on! Forecasts called for as much rain on June 25 as Stockholm normally receives in the entire month of June, and the reality seemed not far off.

Friendly members from the local club showed up at 8:30 AM to start the walk with us from our hotel lobby. Three walkers opted out from the get-go; after walking in a downpour for another 30 minutes, 10 more opted out and returned to the hotel with our guide, Sue, who readily accepted my commission to lead the group back.

The remainder entered the Deer Garden, a lovely island park just east of the center set aside as one of the world's first and largest city parks. Even in the rain it was beautiful, but this was truly an acid test of a walker’s raingear

. I, for one, will be investing in new rain pants soon. My new raincoat from Go-Lite, however, performed great. Fortunately we had the opportunity to dry off and change clothes at the hotel before our visit to the VASA Museum.

Entering the VASA Museum is a bit like stepping 400 years back in time. Built in the early 1600s, this massive ship of war sunk only 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. Its remains were discovered on the floor of the Baltic Sea during the 1960s, when it was subsequently raised and reconstructed. It remains today a time capsule, giving us a vivid glimpse into life at sea in the 1600s, economy and taxation during Sweden's VASA dynasty, and the folly of ignoring the laws of physics and engineering when building a ship (a 2nd gun deck was added hastily after the initial ship was designed).

Perhaps the timing of our visit to the museum was a bit suspect since our next stop was the pier where we loaded the Silja Lines "Symphony", bound for Helsinki. One of the most pleasurable experiences on this Adventure is dining on one of these ferries while cruising through the Stockholm archipelago. We successfully made it past the crucial 20 minute mark of the cruise, then rendezvoused in the dining room, patronizing our palates from a ridiculously expansive smorgasbord while enjoying the serenity of sailing between the 24,000 islands of the archipeloago. Be forewarned: participation in a walking adventure is not a guarantee of weight loss!